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Most of us are still using Windows XP, the operating system (OS) that Microsoft first developed way back in 2001. Though the company released Windows Vista in early 2007, few upgraded to it.

Vista came with substantially enhanced security features that also lent the system greater stability, helping to avoid the kind of 'hanging' and 'crashing' that one suffered with previous versions of the OS. But the enhanced features also made Vista so computing-resource hungry that it slowed down all applications. The only way you could make it run well was by substantially upgrading your hardware.

That would have meant significant expenditure. And most Indians — consumers and enterprises — thought it just not worth the money.

Vista's failure pushed Microsoft to work quickly towards another version. It's called Windows 7 and is expected to be commercially launched later this year, as some reports speculate. A beta version has been under test for a while, and what's called a release candidate (RC) — a version with potential to be the final product — has just been launched. Last week, Mike Nash, corporate VP in Microsoft, gave TOI a demo of the beta version from Redmond, US. What we give below is based on what we saw and heard, and what other beta version reviewers have to say.

Windows 7 is great on an HTPC because it has the look and functionality of Vista to the hardware requirements of XP . The Media Center application, which we’ve written about before, makes organizing, watching and listening to audio and video convenient, and Windows 7 handles larger fonts and icons better than the aging XP.

So, using Windows 7 as a base, I’ve put together a cheap, low-power, reasonably functional HTPC that wouldn’t have been nearly as good if I had built it before October 22. Tune in tomorrow, when I’ll let you know the particulars of the components I’ve picked. In the meantime, check out the Windows 7 Media Center PC Everton built for less than $300.